What The Papers Say - 18 December

The views on this page are taken from the local and national media and do not necessarily reflect the views of Everton.

DAVID MOYES wants his international defender, Phil Jagielka, to follow his lead – and start writing his name more regularly on the Everton scoresheet!

Jagielka has been one of Everton’s most consistent stoppers this season, but he revealed that Moyes has been urging him to try and weigh in with more goals from corners and set-pieces.

Jagielka’s only goal so far this season came for England in a friendly match against Italy.

He said: “Obviously the gaffer was a centre-half himself who always tried to score goals, so he’s always giving us plenty of stick about not getting more.

“I don’t know how many he scored but sometimes it’s do as I say not do as I do!

“But we’re a team and it’s not just down to the strikers. If I can chip in with a couple of goals as well hopefully that might help us.”

Moyes enjoyed a 627 match career at clubs as diverse as Celtic and Shrewsbury.

And he became more prolific the older he got.

After failing to score a goal in his 35 match Celtic career, he managed one in 86 appearances for Cambridge, three in 109 for Bristol City, 12 in 108 for Shewsbury, 14 in 117 for Dunfermline then in 172 appearances for Preston North End netted 19 times. He ended his career with 49 goals, almost one every seven matches.

Jagielka’s best season in front of goal was eight in Sheffield United’s promotion campaign of 2005/06.

Used almost exclusively as a defender at Everton, he has never scored more than two in a single season – but it was his nerveless penalty kick in a Wembley shoot-out which fired Everton to the FA Cup final in 2009.

Jagielka was speaking during Everton’s annual visit to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and he admitted that the trip always lent a sense of perspective to more trivial matters like football and goalscoring.

“It brings a realisation of real life rather than the little hobby we do every weekend that everyone shouts about,” he said.

“When I first started making these visits when I was at Sheffield (United) I didn’t really understand what the parents were going through, but having two children myself now I can understand more.

“Whenever they get hurt or poorly it’s not a very nice feeling, so coming here – as much as you’re trying to cheer them up with presents and a laugh and a joke – the parents also need a break from the reality of what they’re going through.

"It’s a fantastic hospital.

"The staff always look forward to us coming, although it’s hard to describe it as something you look forward to when you see what some of the children are going through."

TALK of six or even nine match bans proved to be so much hysterical speculation.

Marouane Fellaini will miss Everton’s Christmas clashes against West Ham on Saturday then the home games against Wigan on Boxing Day and Chelsea on December 30 after accepting a charge of violent conduct for his clash with Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross.

The FA brought the charge retrospectively after reviewing footage of Everton’s 1-1 draw with Stoke in the Premier League on Saturday.

Fellaini and Everton accepted the charge, little surprise considering the player had already apologised and his manager David Moyes had also condemned the incident.

The ban is the equivalent of what the 25-year-old would have received had referee Mark Halsey seen the incident at the Britannia Stadium and issued a red card.

A statement from the FA also referred to two other clashes between Fellaini and Shawcross at the Britannia Stadium – an attempted butt with the back of his head as Shawcross shackled him, and a light cuff with his hand – but Halsey has confirmed he saw both and did not consider them violent conduct.

Fellaini’s absence will be sorely felt by Everton after an inspirational first half of the season.

The Belgium international has scored eight goals and been the driving force of a team currently fifth in the table and pushing for a Champions League place.

The FA’s statement read: “The FA has charged Everton’s Marouane Fellaini retrospectively with violent conduct following his side’s game at Stoke City on Saturday December 15, 2012.

“The charge is in relation to an incident in the 59th minute involving Fellaini and Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross, which was not seen by the match officials, but caught on video.

“The referee confirmed that he saw two further incidents in the 71st and 91st minutes, also involving Fellaini and Shawcross, neither of which he deemed to be violent conduct.”

Fellaini issued a statement after the game apologising for his actions.

He said: “I apologise completely to Ryan Shawcross, my team-mates and to our fans at the game.

“There was a lot of pushing and pulling going on inside the Stoke penalty area and I didn’t feel I was getting any protection from the officials.

“Nevertheless I know I shouldn’t have done what I did.

“I have also apologised to the manager and the staff. I have no excuses, I was disappointed with the way I was being treated and I lost my temper, which was unprofessional of me.”

Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers Association, gave credit Fellaini for his apology and to Moyes, who said he expected punishment.

Taylor said: “It is good to see the lad has apologised for his actions.

“It is disappointing, he has had a great season and obviously it is an aberration.

“It was refreshing to hear the manager accept what he did was wrong and for the player to apologise. He’s prepared to accept what comes his way.”

Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini will be banned for three games after the Football Association punished him for butting Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross.

The FA hit the Belgian with a violent conduct charge on Monday afternoon following the incident in the 59th minute of last weekend’s 1-1 draw at the Britannia Stadium.

Fellaini has until 6pm on Tuesday to respond, but Everton will not challenge the accusation and the 25 year-old will be suspended for the club’s next three fixtures against West Ham, Wigan and Chelsea.

Referee Mark Halsey and his assistants missed the incident during the game, but it was inevitable the FA would take retrospective action after reviewing video evidence.

Confirming the charge, an FA statement said: “The FA has charged Everton’s Marouane Fellaini retrospectively with violent conduct following his side’s game at Stoke City.

“The charge is in relation to an incident in the 59th minute involving Fellaini and Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross, which was not seen by the match officials, but caught on video. The referee confirmed that he saw two further incidents in the 71st and 91st minutes, also involving Fellaini and Shawcross, neither of which he deemed to be violent conduct.”

Fellaini and Shawcross were involved in a running battle throughout Saturday’s game, Stoke’s notoriously niggling approach forcing the Belgian to snap.

Everton manager, David Moyes, had no sympathy for his star after the game, saying it was “a terrible thing to do”. On Monday he said: “We were always going to accept whatever punishment we got. We know he did wrong. We apologise for the incident.”

Fellaini’s team-mate, Sylvain Distin, believes the midfielder must cope far better with the kind of intimidating tactics in which Stoke specialise.

“He needs to make sure he doesn’t react badly. It’s a mistake and he will learn from it,” said Distin.

Fellaini had earlier apologised for reacting, fearing his absence will prove costly in a tight race for fourth place.

“I apologise completely to Ryan Shawcross, my team-mates and to our fans at the game. I lost my temper and it was unprofessional. I know I shouldn’t have done what I did. I have also apologised to the manager and the staff. I have no excuses.”

REFEREES will be ordered to crack down on defenders who hold and block opponents at set-pieces in the wake of Marouane Fellaini’s clash with Ryan Shawcross.

Everton’s Belgian midfielder was yesterday banned for three matches after accepting a charge of violent conduct for butting the Stoke captain in Saturday’s 1-1 draw. But FA officials are concerned at the growing trend for players to wrap their arms around opponents they are marking and the number of times goalmouths resemble wrestling matches in the build up to a corner or free-kick.

And the subject has been put on the schedule to be raised by referees’ chief Mike Riley at the next routine training meeting of elite officials.

Sportsmail’s expert, former World Cup referee Graham Poll, said: ‘Cautions are down, particularly those for dissent, but the one issue that stands out is holding and blocking at set-pieces.

‘A compilation of examples will be put together and shown to referees to get commitment from them to punish this offence more often and in a consistent way.

‘You often see the referee stop the kick being taken and warn the players to prevent holding, but this has stopped being an effective deterrent because so few follow up on the warning.’

Everton’s top scorer Fellaini, 25, will miss the Christmas fixtures against West Ham, Wigan and Chelsea and will not be available until Newcastle away on January 2.

The FA’s statement confirmed that only the butt in the 59th minute of the game was taken into account – referee Mark Halsey confirmed he had seen two other incidents and did not consider either of them to be violent conduct.

A report on Everton’s website confirmed that the club would accept the charge.